Senate Should Confirm FCC Nominees So Agency Can Focus on Clearing Spectrum

August 2, 2013

Today, President Barack Obama nominated Mike O’Rielly to fill the GOP vacancy at the FCC. With the Senate Commerce Committee having just sent the nomination of Tom Wheeler as FCC Chairman to the Senate floor, this means final confirmation of both could come shortly after the Senate returns from recess in the fall. The following statement may be attributed to TechFreedom President Berin Szoka :

Mike O’Rielly and Tom Wheeler are both eminently qualified to direct the FCC. The Senate should promptly confirm both nominees so the FCC can focus on providing the spectrum necessary to meet consumers’ exploding demand for mobile broadband. The FCC’s 2010 National Broadband Plan identified an urgent need for the FCC to provide mobile users with 300 MHz of spectrum by 2015 and 500 MHz by 2020. So far, the FCC has provided almost nothing, and appears to be getting farther from, not closer to, meeting its own targets. These delays hurt every American with a mobile device, slowing their service and discouraging innovation in mobile apps. Now more than ever, the FCC needs strong, bipartisan leadership — and quickly.

Tech Freedom is a non-profit, non-partisan technology think tank launched in 2011. TechFreedom is excited about the future. Focusing on issues of Internet freedom and technological progress, we work to protect innovation and discovery from powers that fear change. Technology is the great driver of social progress and human well-being, and we aim to keep it that way.